DOBES Tsova-Tush, Svan, Udi

Endangered Caucasian Languages in Georgia (ECLinG)

The Caucasus region has been renowned since antiquity as an area with an extra- Kalmyk K Blagodarnyj ub ordinarily high number of distinct languages. an The linguistic diversity of yore has not only Majkop Stavropol' Russian Avar Kuma Lak Georgian Adyghe Neftekumsk Juúno-Suxokumsk survived until the present but has even been Prikumsk Dargwa Kuban Abaza Avar considerably extended by the migration of Kabardian Avar KoÄubej ¨erkessk Dargw a Georgian Beslenei Noghay L speakers of Indo-European, Turkic, Mongol- Tuapse Abaza a Caspian D Kabardian Georgian a k Chech rg Mineral'nyje Vody en w ian, Semitic, and other languages into the a Mozdok- Kizljar (Bz Ka Kabardian area. Today, the linguistic map of the SoÄi yb') ra Ka ek Sea Ab ch Kabardian bard Mozdok er Gagra kh ay ia T Caucasus area comprises appr. 40 indigenous a n Av z Nal'Äik C ar I h M Ba n Kostek languages, pertaining to three groups which ingr Suxumi lk Tatisch ec ( (Upper) g el A ar h ia u k n b (Digor) e a z n Groznyj Dargwa L h Digora s have not been proved to be genetically Sva h Xasavjurt u MaxaÄkala i n O Vladikavkaz Go Lak Kiziljurt ) n (Lower) do a s Ch be Andi OÄamÄire i (Iron) am ri Kumyk related with each other, but also Indo- l s Bujnaksk e e alal Botlikh r t Manaskent g i Di Tati ) do Karata n Zugdidi a ( European languages such as Armenian, i M ur (Racha) n o vs Akhvakh Black M k he Sergokala h (K (Tual) e ( Bagulal D Enguri v T Tindi GegeÅÖori ) r Russian, Ossetic, or Tati, Turkic languages Cxinvali u a Kutaisi s Khvarshi (Marïvili) (Kist) h a r ) Khunzal v g v) w Azeri Turkic such as Azeri, Karachay-Balkar, Kumyk, or (Imeretian) ha Kapucha A Sea Poti (Ps i L a Rioni Hinukh h a Telavi c Gori r k an i (Guri) (Mtiulian) A r at Derbent Bats KubaÄi a T Trukhmen, the East-Aramaic Semitic Batumi Axalcixe as (Adzhar) (Ka Udi ab Armenian rtl (K Balak„n T Georgian ian ak Agh language Aysor, and Mongolian Kalmyk. Xoåa (Hopa) ) he Tsa u Ossetian tia Achvach. hku l an Arxavi (Arhavi) n) r gi Vice (Féndéklé) Tbilisi Armenian Caxur z Dzhek Furthermore, there are minor communities Atina (Pazar) Zagatala Rutul Le Axalkalaki Udi(Ingilo Gax Guba Rize ) Rutul of speakers of languages such as Estonian Laz Vartaêen € Dzhek o k Tati Nidú Trabzon r a ) Budukh o a p n D„v„Äi h a ia Udi or German. ur p h Khinalug K a k Gonagkent ar es Gazax Turkic K (M Dzhek Tati Leninakan Kirovakan Kur Lezgian a Lahydú Azeri-T. Kirovabad Kil„zi The ECLinG project focusses on three Arm Tati eni ¸amaxy endangered Caucasian languages spoken in Caucasian Languages an Azeri Turkic present-day Georgia, viz. Tsova-Tush, Svan, (C) Jost Gippert, 1993-2004 Kurdish Armenian M„dr„s„ Armenian and Udi. The linguistic diversity of present-day Caucasia

TSOVA-TUSH SVAN UDI

Together with Chechen and Ingush which are The Svan language is located in the high Udi belongs to the Lezgian (or Southern) mostly spoken North of the Caucasus, the mountain region of North West Georgia branch of the East Caucasian language Tsova-Tush language (also called Bats or along the gorges of the rivers Enguri, family. Today, it is spoken in three villages in Batsbi) belongs to the so-called Nakh Tskhenis-tskali and Kodori. It consists of five Transcaucasia as well as in a number of subfamily of the North-East-Caucasian stock. dialects: The so-called "Upper Svan" dialects diaspora places scattered throughout the Its speakers live in a close community within Upper and Lower Bal, distributed in the Russian Federation, Armenia and one village of North-East Georgia, viz. Enguri valley, and the "Lower Svan" dialects Kazakhstan. The original habitat of the Zemo-Alvani, which is situated in a region Lashkh, Lentekhian and Cholurian spoken ethnic Udis in Northern Azerbaijan is now where otherwise the Tush and Kakhetian along the Tskhenis-tskali river. The main confined to the village of Nidzh. Here, the dialects of Georgian are spoken. According differences between the dialects and sub- ethnic Udis represent a rather compact to recent statistics, the number of speakers dialects are observable in their sound unity of roughly 4,500 people. Before has been reduced to less than 1,600. systems, but there are also considerable autumn 1989, Vartashen (now Oghuz) was All speakers of Tsova-Tush are bilingual, divergences in morphology and syntax. the second Azerbaijani village which hosted speaking Georgian alongside the Tsova-Tush a significant number of ethnic Udis. By language. While Georgian has been used as According to the most recent statistics, the virtue of the Armenian-Azerbaijani clashes the primary means of communication, Tsova- number of speakers of Svan does not exceed in 1989, most of the roughly 3,000 Vartashen Tush has kept its status as a living language 30,000 people today, with ca. 15,000 Udis were expelled. Today, some 35 ethnic in familiar environments for centuries. speakers of Upper Svan and less than 12,000 Udi families still live in Oghuz. A third speakers of Lower Svan dialects. All speakers settlement of ethnic Udis was founded in of Svan are bilingual speaking Georgian Eastern Georgia in 1922 when a considerable alongside Svan, with the latter being used as number of Vartashen Udis left their original a familiar means of communication only habitat for economic reasons. This village, while Georgian is the language of called Oktomberi (formerly Zinobiani), today administration and school teaching hosts some 80 Udis, living in a totally everywhere in the Svan speaking areas. "Georgian" environment.

CONTACT ADDRESS

Prof. Dr. Jost Gippert Vergleichende Sprachwissenschaft Universität Frankfurt [email protected]